At least 12 pilgrims, five of them women, were killed and 22 others injured when a speeding container ran over them on the New Delhi-Kolkata NH2 in Bihar’s Aurangabad district early on Tuesday.
The heavy vehicle lost control and ran over the ‘kanwarias’ (devotees of Lord Shiva) sleeping on the roadside, Superintendent of Police Upendra Kumar Sharma said.
After running over the sleeping kanwarias , it hit a parked bus in which some other kanwarias were taking rest, the SP said, adding 12 kanwarias were killed in the mishap.
The pilgrims were resting after returning from Deogarh temple in Jharkhand.
The mishap took place under Muffasil police station area, 10 km from Aurangbad town and about 160 km from capital Patna.
The injured have been admitted to Sadar Hospital with some of the seriously injured rushed to Magadh Medical College and Hospital in Gaya.
The victims were returning to their home in Dehri sub-division of Rohtas district from Deogarh after offering prayers to Lord Shiva when the tragedy took place.
Former Independent MLA of Dehri Pradeep Joshi organises trip to Deogarh for devotees every year during the month of ‘Shravan’.
His wife Rashmi Jyoti is the current Independent MLA from there.
